I would reccomend buying them from a sponsor on Reef 2 Reef. I know The Alternative Reef is a sponsor here who has multiple vendors on this site that sells thier products.
Also they do have wholesale pricing for commercial vendors. You could maybe look into it before you buy a "cheaper " alternative. A lot of our vendors sell and use our products not only making them money but essentially costing them very little for the products they do use.
More goes into the price of a product than just the cost to make it. Time, electricity, packaging, shipping, materials, website sponsorship fees, labor, middleman costs. I could go on.
Do it yourself is always gonna be cheaper than buying a manufactured product. But when you consider all the other costs and your time it isn't worth it for most people. Heck we make almost nothing on the Frag Plugs and less on the Disks we make. It is our break even product. They are also our biggest sellers. The money we do take in gets put to good use on product developement and mold replacement. We redo our molds about every year and they cost a lot to get made. I have been working in this hobby for about eight years now and have yet to take a paycheck. And I do not see one on the horizon.
I guess I can put it this way. Like I always say as long as you are aquaculturing corals you are good in my book. But don't limit your options to the cheapest you can find. there may be a better way. If you went to buy a $50,000 high performance sports car you would expect good tires on it. Not retreads. If I am gonna buy a high priced coral frag I want it on a quality mount. Not a piece of tile from a hardware store or a concrete plug that was cured in someones toilet. But that's just me. You and the consumer may not care what the coral is on. I know just as many that like plugs hate plugs.
i never thought of using lil' army men. 
